VIII -- [February 28, 1903] 

OUTLOOK IN MACEDONIA

REFORMS INADEQUATE

SKETCH OF CENTRAL ORGANIZATION

ITS DARK AND BRIGHT SIDES

Near Vardari, Southern Macedonia, Feb. 23

To say nothing of the Central Organization in Macedonia, the Christian population of the province is of the opinion that the Russo-Austrian project of reforms will not and cannot stop the revolutionary movement. Autonomy alone, or its equivalent, can effect that. The leaders of the movement might not raise any difficulty over this or that feature in the new machinery of government, provided the result they are prepared to fight for--security of life and property; concession to the Christian population of its fair, effective share in the administration of provincial affairs--is attained. What they say is that, in effect, the project will leave the Turk administrator the last word, the final decision; so that in all essential points the situation remains unchanged.

Already, and for a long time, Christians have sat, jointly with Turkish officials, in various departments of the government. But the Christian "representative" counts for nothing. He never did count for anything. He does not even represent himself. His business is to say, "Evvet, Effendi" (Yes, Sir, certainly Sir) to his Turkish colleague's decision: he does it, and obediently appends his signature. Or he says, "Pekhi, Effendi," which is still more significant, meaning "Let it be so," "Just as you please." In the mouth of the man in the street it implies an attitude of indifference or of submission, as who should say, "All right," "Let it go," "Have it your own way." Never, if the Turk can help it, shall this kind of representation be altered. The Turk, being of the ruling caste, must have the last word. Otherwise he would be swamped by the Christians, who are far his superiors in numbers and intelligence. All of which the Sultan had in his mind when he uttered the words, "An autonomous Macedonia will be raised only over my bones"; and the Commissary at Sofia had in his mind when (as narrated in my last letter) he exclaimed, "Never--until the last Turk in Macedonia perishes."

READY TO FIGHT FOR AUTONOMY

But for this autonomous Macedonia the insurrectionary organization will be ready to fight to the death. At this point I must give a fuller and clearer view of the organization than I was able to do when writing from Bulgaria. Until nearly two years ago there was, for Bulgaria and Macedonia, but one organization. Boris Saraffof was its chief. Saraffof, as the Bulgarians and the Macedonians complain of him, was a terrible despot, who extorted contributions for the sacred cause at the revolver's mouth. His reign was "a reign of terror." He could ruin the cause, so they said. Saraffof was deposed. M. Stanisheff was put in his place. But as for some reasons Stanisheff's ideas were supposed by many people to be too closely identified with Saraffof's, a new party sprang up within the organization, and M. Michaeloffski became its President, with ex-General Tzontcheff as Vice-President. These two prominent men are Bulgarians. Stanisheff is a Macedonian. It is not easy to say which of the two parties in the Bulgarian organization is the more numerous--Stanisheff's or Michaeloffski's. Stanisheff, the Macedonian, claims to be more in touch, more in harmony, with the organization in Macedonia than is M. Michaeloffski or General Tzontcheff. But, though in some respects the parties disagree, they would unite the moment an insurrection broke out. Their final purpose is one--Macedonia liberated.

In the next place the organization in Bulgaria, or, at any rate, the section of it directed by Michaeloffski and Tzontcheff, became separated from the organization in Macedonia itself. Not because they differed in purpose, for the purpose was one and the same; but because they disagreed as to methods.

Tzontcheff, the soldier, who had resigned his commission so that he might be free to play the part of an insurgent leader, attempted early last autumn to bring about an immediate rising. The Macedonians in Raslock opposed him, on the ground that though they themselves were ready. their brethren in some other districts were less so. They were for a wise delay. The disputants fought with weapons deadlier than words. And Ali Farukh Bey, Turkish Commissary in Sofia, was not altogether wrong when, in our interview, he described how the Macedonians in Raslock had been fighting among themselves. To Tzoncheff's precipitate action in Macedonia there have been attributed the barbarities since then perpetrated by the Turks, and the flight of thousands of Macedonians into Bulgarian territory. That was its evil result. But it had besides a good result. It woke up Europe to recognise the fact that in Macedonia there existed a revolutionary organization which at any moment might set the province in a blaze. That is exactly what it can do; and what the organization in Sofia cannot do.

MASSACRE FOR MASSACRE

So we come at last to the final and important distinction between the organizations. There are two of them, one in Bulgaria, one in Macedonia. The former consults, debates, takes stock of things generally, assists in a "constitutional" way. The latter is the active, militant organization, to which the Committee in Sofia is auxiliary. It is known as the "Central Society," the "Society of the Interior," It is with this "Society of the Interior" that the Turkish Government will have to reckon. It is the Society upon which Western Europe, when it hears or reads of revolutionary committees, must concentrate its attention. No repressive measures by the Bulgarian Government against the Committees in Sofia can arrest the revolutionary movement in Macedonia. The European public will made a grave mistake if it fancies that the Macedonian Association is numerically weak, poorly equipped, badly organized for co-ordinated action. The Macedonian "revolutionists" are ready to rise now. But they will wait. That is their policy. At this moment they are ready to return blow for blow. They may not be able to "paralyse" the Turkish force in Macedonia. They may not be able to prevent a massacre. But they will repay massacre with massacre. Hitherto, in her prayers to civilized Europe for redress of her intolerable wrongs, Macedonia has spoken with a clear voice. But the hour is fast coming when her voice may be choked with blood. Then, perhaps, Christian Europe--what there is left of it-- may feel some pangs of remorse. For Christian Europe can render an insurrection unnecessary. Only there is no time to be lost.

At any moment some local collision may lead instantly to a general insurrection. A little while, and the snows begin to melt. And with the mountain streams now frozen and dead, the insurgent bands, also, may spring to lief--athirst for vengeance for their devastated homes, for their fathers and brothers tortured and slain, for their wives and sisters subjected to a fate worse than death. A collision of the kind of which I have just spoken occurred a few days ago at two villages not very far from the spot where I am now visiting. News of this conflict has not, I believe, been spread abroad. The Turkish authorities have kept the matter quiet. A Macedonian band was surprised at one of the villages by the Turkish troops. The "insurgents," outnumbered, were retreating, when they were reinforced by their brethren in the second village. The Turkish force was repulsed. In this case, as in every other, the Turks were the assailants; and it was their duty to attack, for the bandsmen are rebels against the Sovereign Ruler of the land. For the present, and until the failure of every other method of securing justice, the Macedonian bands are on the defensive; the rule is absolute that they must not strike unless they are attacked. The Macedonian leaders that in this instance, as in almost every other, the band was betrayed. As yet they have had no positive proof of this. Should their surmise prove correct, and the betrayer be discovered, death will be his--or her--sure reward.

A SHORT WAY WITH BETRAYERS

For the secret organization whose ideal is the liberation of Macedonia has its dark side. Here is an example. Two or three weeks ago, near Monastir, a band of about fifty men was surrounded by the Turks. Two or three of them were killed. But the band had the best of the encounter, and went away unmolested. The betrayers were two women. They will never be seen again. Many a "traitor" has been put to death by the "Central Organization," the Committee of "the Interior," since the present phase of the movement began some five months ago. All this will shock Western readers--who, however, cannot, except with a strong effect of imagination, realise what life under an atrocious despotism means. The easy, matter-of-fact way in which the Macedonian leaders whom I know speak of the death penalty for the unfaithful would perhaps startle your man in the street. For myself I have grown accustomed to it, and know the East too well for surprise. For an analogous state of affairs you must recall the Italy of Mazzini, and the ideas on political assassination entertained by Mazzini himself, the arch conspirator, one of the noblest of human kind. So here there are men--and I know them now familiarly--humane, high-minded, self-sacrificing men, incapable of "hurting a fly," who, if they detected a betrayer, would stab him or shoot him without an instant's hesitation. The adjective self-sacrificing, which I have just made use of, goes far to explain this ruthless attitude. Themselves risking capture, torture, death, they expect that all participants in the insurrectionary movement shall be no less self-sacrificing. They have no pity for the unfaithful: by the law of self-preservation, say they, the Committee has no alternative but to put the betrayer to death. They do not compel any Christians to support the Organization in any way whatever. To Greek villagers, for example, they would say, "If you do not take our part, do nothing against us." As a matter of fact, great numbers of Greeks are in the revolutionary movement. And so, very strangely, are there Turks!--of the "Young Turkey" party. There are Turks--you may come to know them, if you try it in the right way--who will tell you that all hopes of amelioration in and from Turkey are in vain, and who admit that the lot of the Turks still living in Bulgaria is happier far than it ever could be under the rule of the best Sultan.

PERFECT INTELLIGENCE SERVICE

But while admitting that, for the sake of the cause to which they have devoted their own lives, they have sometimes had recourse to deeds of violence, the leaders of the movement also plead that many of the acts attributed to the organization are the work of men who have been expelled from it, not merely because of suspected treachery, but because of evil conduct in ordinary social relations. When the history of the movement comes to be written, the "moral" aspect of the organization should form the subject of a curious chapter. For instances, drunkenness is in the estimation of the members an unpardonable sin, for a drunken member might let out secrets. So it happens that some men, neglectful of the customary warnings, have met with a terrible punishment. Again, any members of the organization known to frequent houses of evil repute are summarily warned; for in such places men of weak character might take their favourites into their confidence. And so has it happened more than once that men of that stamp have come to grief. The leaders of the "Central Committee," the "Committee of the Interior," are fairly satisfied that they have expelled--or otherwise got rid of--their "bad characters." At this moment there is not in all Macedonia a single village--not even a "Turkish" village--without one or more secret representatives of the Central Committee. The Committee's intelligence department, to use a military expression, is perfect. It is manned by picked men, "couriers," who know every corner of Macedonia, and who are under oath to suffer death sooner than divulge information with which they have been entrusted. I have had some personal experience of the skill, patience, and celerity of these men.

A BRIGHTER SIDE

And now I must bring this general sketch of the Central Organization to a close. I have written of its darker side, as well as of its brighter side. You must understand this Organization: before you denounce some of its deeds you must ask yourself why they have been committed. To understand you must know the all-round truth. I shall end this letter with a reference to the brighter side. In the Courts of Macedonia justice has long ceased to exist: justice means bribery, imprisonment under false pretences, perhaps judicial murder. So the leaders of the Central Organization have in many places contrived a system of informal arbitration whereby disputants shall be heard impartially, and have their cases decided without expense and in accordance with right.